Wednesday, January 13, 2016

The X Factor: Confessions of a Naive Fashion Model by Ivan Sivec FREE BOOK

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Ivan will be awarding a free e-copy of the X Factor or a signed greeting card from Slovenia (international) to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour. DOWNLOAD THE BOOK FOR ***FREE*** FROM AMAZON!!

It takes three mistakes to be swallowed up and spat out by the fashion industry.

You trust the wrong people.

You think you know everything there is to know about life.

You abuse drugs.

The almost 18-year-old Maja is a regular high-school kid, who at the threshold of adulthood thinks she knows everything there is to know about life. As she enters the world of fashion modelling she gets completely enchanted.

However, the more her career thrives she’s less able to see the danger lurking around fashion industry. Maja starts falling in a downward spiral of drug addiction and is torn between the tempting dream of becoming a world famous model and the horrendous thought of destroying her body beyond the point of no salvation.

At a yacht party Maja gets drugged, assaulted and tossed overboard. She’s found the next day. Barely alive. Only a shade of her former self, in a gray space between life and death, she realises the fashion industry sucked everything out of her – except one thing – the will to live. Maja wants to be her old self again.

Ironically, it means losing the only thing that made her special. She has to give up on her hidden X Factor.

The X Factor:Confession of a Naïve Fashion Model is a psychological YA novel showing the glamorous fashion world behind its less glamorous scenes.

Enjoy an excerpt:

“Please, Klemen, stop talking about fashion agencies and such!”

“And us?” he held her hand. He was surprised to see she was wearing the bracelet he had given her for Valentines.

“What do you mean, have you forgotten everything?” she smiled at him.

Reminiscence.

An element of an art work that revives memories of past events.

The memory of Bled.

“It’s all in your, my, our hands. Don’t fake ignorance and use Mr. Egon as an excuse!”

“Just say what you want!”

“I want things between us to stay exactly the same as they are right now. I want us to always tell each other the honest truth, even if I ever become as famous as… Claudia Schiffer.”

“Are you thinking of the curse that will strike the one who breaks the promise?” he looked at her from the side.

“Yes, exactly that one!”

“But will you be able to accept me back after all the bad things I’ve done to you? I feel like a hustler of the worst kind.”

They were quiet for a long time, staring through the window.

Two turtledoves were sitting on a branch, showing affection to each other.

“I’m sorry,” Klemen said, absorbed in thoughts. “I’m asking you to forgive me if you can.”

“I’m asking you to forgive me as well. It’s all up to you, Klemen,” Maja said softly.

He squeezed her hand strongly, as if he wanted to say that everything was back to normal.

That they were back to where they had started before Valentine’s Day 2004.

Now they could finally feel free, independent, free from evil people.

They were able to find anchor in their haven because their love was above all the filth.

And the end is always the beginning of something new.

About the Author:[caption id="attachment_42816" align="alignleft" width="300"] 16.3.2008 Ljubljana, Slovenija. Ivan Sivec, slovenski pisatelj.FOTO:JURE ERŽEN/Delo[/caption]Ivan Sivec is a writer, poet and publicist from Slovenia, Europe. People say he is ‘a man with a hundred stories’ and he has been sharing them with his audience, both young and mature, for over four decades now. He is listed under the top five Slovenian bestselling authors.

In his rich and thriving career he has written in many genres. As a poet he has written more than 2,500 lyrics for ethnic and entertaining music for which he received several awards. His broad prosaic ‘repertoire’ includes biographies, historical, psychological and adventure novels, travelogues, youth book series, picture books as well as humorous stories. To this date he published over 130 books and is considered to be one of the most popular Slovenian authors.

Sivec devotes his free time to his wife of 44 years, their two children and three grandchildren. Since his retirement a decade ago he enjoys his days hiking the Alpine peaks (he is especially proud to have conquered the tallest mountain in Europe, the French Mont Blanc (4,810 m/ 15,771 ft), together with his daughter-in-law Tina). When he is not gathering inspiration from the mountains he is soaking in the tranquility of the Mediterranean Sea with his wife. Nature is his source of creativity. It allows Ivan to gather his thoughts and pour them onto paper.